Reviews

Dino Stalker

Worse of all is the inherently clumsy control that ruins any sort of fun experience you may have otherwise playing Dino Stalker. You can play with a single GunCon 2 controller, making use of the built-in direction pad for movement, but the awkward position you'll need to make this work makes it unfeasible. You can also play with the Dual Shock controller, and attempt to deal with the over reactive analog control when aiming with the targeting reticle. Your best bet is a GunCon 2 and dual shock controller, steering with one hand and shooting with the other. But even this mode doesn't work as nicely as it should, thanks to the laborious movements of your character as he trudges along.

My, what nice teeth you have!

Dino Stalker's saving graces are the survival-horror elements that have been converted fairly nicely to go along with the typical arcade light-gun shooter mechanics. Collecting items is key to a successful run through Gun Survivor, and you'll constantly be looking to replenish your supplies. While most of the essential items, such as health kits and antidotes can often be found simply strewn across the landscape, others require that you aim and squeeze off a few rounds. Shooting compys, those adorable little chicken-sized dinosaurs will also reveal health packs, while destroying the landscape can often make time extending tachyon gems appear. You can also collect special weapons from a wide variety of types that appear when you blast open crates and enemies, including trusty standbys like the bowgun, grenade launcher, and flame thrower. Each weapon is suited to a particular situation, although most will take out roaming dinosaurs with little effort. The spark gun, for instance, works similarly to a chain lightning spell in a fantasy world, shooting an arcing bolt of lightning which bounces from one dinosaur to the next. Switching from the standard ammunition to the specials is painless, and there are lots of special weapons strewn throughout each of the levels, meaning you'll have plenty of opportunities to check out all of the neat new armaments.

For any dinosaur game, there must be a T-Rex.

But, just because there's plenty of stuff to find and a nice variety of dinosaurs to shoot doesn't mean that Dino Stalker is particularly worth your purchase. You can beat each of the game's seven levels in just over an hour, and most wouldn't feel inspired to replay the game, even though you can unlock new weapons after successive completions. In fact, aside from the horribly awkward controls, Dino Stalker suffers from what can best be described as a lack of inspiration. If you've played the Point Blank games to death, then feel free to take a risk and give this a rental, but considering how many quality games are on shelves today, you can't validate adding this one to your collection.